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While the worst of the heat wave had departed the day before, the sun was out in full force, the Green was full of vendors, and local businesses prepared for the masses that came to town for the annual 4th of July parade on Grow Avenue in Montrose. Dozens of businesses, churches, non-profits, miscellaneous groups, and of course tractors participated in what was the longest parade in recent history, approximately 90 minutes. Included was 104-year-old World War II veteran, Harold Gray. With the theme of the parade being “Moments in History,” and of course because of the special 250th anniversary of America, many float attendees dressed in 1776-esque attire and they did not disappoint. The parade finished out with the infamous Montrose Marching Unit (MMU) Alumni Band, which had performed on the lawn of Independence Hall the day before after the cancellation of the parade in Philadelphia. Trailing behind the MMU were various fire/EMS department vehicles. Please enjoy these photos of the day that were provided by various sources and used with permission.

A motion was approved to exonerate specific occupation/per capita taxes due to a clerical error during the regular Susquehanna County Commissioners meeting held on July 8, 2026. Commissioner Hall explained the previous computer database was provided by ETV which no longer exists and the data was transferred to Visions. There were hiccups in the conversion not only in Susquehanna but also in Wyoming and other counties. The list of exonerations will be available upon request at the courthouse.

Sarah Seamans from the Assessment office was recognized for her 10 years of service.

The following agreements were approved: Lackawanna-Susquehanna Office of Drug and Alcohol Programs effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027; Susquehanna County Children and Youth and Avanco International LLC for upgrade to version 19 of the Child Accounting and Profile System software effective July 8, 2026 at a total cost of $2,631.58; Susquehanna with Trehab Inc. Montrose to participate in and oversee the PA Medical Assistance Transportation Program (MATP) effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027; A transportation service agreement and lease with Trehab, Inc. Montrose for Shared Ride, PWD and MATP services provided by Trehab and all vehicles provided by the County for a lease of $1 per vehicle effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027; a five-year agreement with Revize Software Systems, Troy MI for redesign of the County website to include planning, development and implementation at a cost of $13,500 and an annual fee of $4,900 for website hosting, monitoring and support for a total cost of $38,000 effective July 8, 2026 through July 7, 2031 (Commissioner Hall explained the current company is no longer doing the service); professional services contract with CAI, Allentown for fiscal and professional program services for the Children and Youth Services Department effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 at a cost not to exceed $160,400; contract with Anthony Bartok for the DUI Coordinator services to be shared with Barbara Durkin effective immediately.

Commissioners purchased one 2026 Chevrolet SSV Tahoe from Bonner Chevrolet, Kingston for the Adult Probation Department at a total COSTARS price of $62,838. The vehicle is partially paid with Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) Grant Funding.

The following are accepted resignations: Megan Vinson from the position of full-time Telecommunicator effective July 8, 2026; Robert Binduga from the position of Director of Public Facilities, effective August 5, 2026; resignation/retirement of Diana Roszel from the position of Casework Supervisor effective August 19, 2026.

The 2008 Car-Mate Enclosed trailer that went to bid was purchased for $3,097 by an individual from Patterson New Jersey.

The Commissioners closed the meeting and called to order the Salary Board meeting. The following were approved during the meeting: created 1 full-time non-union eligible position of casework Supervisor effective July 8, 2026; eliminate 1 full-time union-eligible position of Maintenance Specialist effective July 8, 2026; eliminate 1 full-time, non-union position of Casework Supervisor effective August 20, 2026.

After the creation and elimination of the above positions the meeting was closed.

The next regular meeting of the Commissioners will be held on July 22, 2026 at 9:00am.

The winners of the Montrose July 4th Patriotic Parade “Best In Parade” float contest are listed below with the theme of their float.

There were 14 separate floats who entered the contest and all of them highlighted the overall theme - “America 250 - Moments in History”. The two winners were selected by a panel of 5 judges.

All 14 floats received a donation of $200 each from the Parade Committee to help with the expenses in designing and building their float. In addition, the two “Best In Parade” entries received an additional $200 as their award.

Best In Parade winners were: Endless Mountains Health Systems with the theme - “Historic Figures of America”; South Montrose Community Church with the theme - “Betsy Ross - America's First Flag”.

After Susquehanna Borough Council approved the Agenda, Bill List and June’s minutes Council President Sue Crawford opened the meeting to Public Comment.

Christine Gow said she was at the park on Prospect Street and the playground equipment is in need of a serious upgrade. She said the playground equipment is covered with rust and there are only 2 baby swings, which are much too small for most children. She said there must be grant money out there to purchase the new equipment. President Crawford said she would look to see what grants are available for the park.

Andreas Plonka asked if there was an update on the pipe project. Kevin McKee Supervisor of DPW replied the material has arrived and he is just waiting for the excavator, Warren Stone to complete his current job. He provided a thorough report on the Front Street storm drain project on his monthly report (see below).

Mr. Plonka also questioned the bamboo since he was trimming it down and noticed he had something sticky on his hands but kept trimming. A week later he noticed the bamboo started dying off and he would have liked to take care of this without pesticides. Mr. Plonka said the best way to permanently kill the bamboo is cutting it down and applying pesticides to the root and he was going to do it that way. Supervisor McKee said they spray the bamboo each year and the Borough was responsible for the roadway. Mr. Plonka agreed it was the Borough’s responsibility however it was creeping down on his property.

A technical drawing of the Engineers’ proposal to repair the Willow Avenue wall was submitted to Council for their approval. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be responsible for the repair but it needed the approval of the presiding governing body of Susquehanna Borough.

Chief Burman provided the Police Report to Council with the following numbers of incidents: 1 call for each of the following: Animal, Assault, Criminal Mischief, Disorderly Conduct, Drug Violation, Harassment, Juvenile, Medical Emergency, Public Service, Suspicious person and Welfare Check. 2 calls for each of the following: Miscellaneous Investigation and Suspicious Vehicle. 3 calls for the following: Parking Violation and Traffic Stop. Chief Burman stated he has had much success with the kids using the eBikes. He has spoken with several kids, commended them on their safe travels and also has spoken with several parents. Mayor Gow stated it was good to put the eBike law on the website. Some people had very rude comments but on the whole it made very good communication between the Police Department and the public.

Supervisor McKee provided an extensive report of the work of his department for the month of June. The Front Street storm drain project consisted of Environmental Services inspected the storm drain with a camera to locate the damaged section of pipe. To access the storm drain they removed the stone retaining wall alongside the house and excavated beneath the house to locate the pipe. It was a 21-inch terracotta storm pipe which is a special size and had to be ordered and was received during the week of July 1st.

DPW patched potholes throughout the borough as needed, reinstalled a park bench, watered plants and flowers as needed, cut trees and brush along the roadway in the park, cleared plugged storm drains at Erie Avenue and Broad Avenue, Jackson Avenue paving project has been completed and they backfilled the ends of driveways that were left as dirt after paving and applied for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to pave a portion of Prospect Street.

President Crawford reported the Susquehanna Community Development Association (SCDA) has worked very hard putting together Susquehanna Hometown Days which takes place July 17-18 at Ira Reynolds Riverfront Park. This year they are featuring a Red, White and Blue 250 Celebration. Friday July 17th the Parade starts at 6:00pm with fireworks taking place at dusk. Saturday, July 18th starts at noon and continues through the evening.

The next scheduled meeting will be held on August 12th at 6:00pm.